2018 NCHC Tournament

The 2018 NCHC Tournament was the fifth tournament in league history. It was played between March 9 and March 17, 2018. Quarterfinal games were played at home team campus sites, while the final four games were played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. By winning the tournament, Denver received the NCHC's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament.

Format

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The first round of the postseason tournament features a best-of-three games format. All eight conference teams participate in the tournament. Teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 8 according to their final conference standing, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with an identical number of points accumulated. The top four seeded teams each earn home ice and host one of the lower seeded teams.

The winners of the first round series advance to the Xcel Energy Center for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Frozen Faceoff uses a single-elimination format. Teams are re-seeded No. 1 through No. 4 according to the final regular season conference standings.[1]

Conference standings

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Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; PTS = Points; GF = Goals For; GA = Goals Against

Conference record Overall record
GP W L T SOW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#6 St. Cloud State 24 16 4 4 1 53 93 59 40 25 9 6 144 101
#5 Denver* 24 12 6 6 4 46 76 53 41 23 10 8 135 86
#1 Minnesota–Duluth 24 13 11 0 0 39 79 56 42 25 16 3 132 92
#17 North Dakota 24 8 10 6 3 33 71 68 40 17 13 10 117 95
Omaha 24 10 13 1 0 31 75 97 36 17 17 2 121 134
Western Michigan 24 10 13 1 0 31 82 94 36 15 19 2 115 129
Colorado College 24 8 12 4 3 31 63 85 37 15 17 5 99 121
Miami 24 6 14 4 2 24 62 89 37 12 20 5 103 128
Championship: March 17, 2018
† indicates conference regular season champion; * indicates conference tournament champion
Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll; updated March 5, 2018

Bracket

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Teams are reseeded after the first round

Quarterfinals
March 9–11
Semifinals
March 16
Championship
March 17
           
1 St. Cloud State 5 2 4*
8 Miami 2 3* 3
1 St. Cloud State 3*
4 North Dakota 2
2 Denver 0 3 6
7 Colorado College 2 2 1
1 St. Cloud State 1
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
2 Denver 4
3 Minnesota-Duluth 5 2
6 Western Michigan 0 0
2 Denver 3 Third Place
3 Minnesota-Duluth 1
4 North Dakota 4 4* 3 Minnesota-Duluth 1
5 Omaha 0 3 4 North Dakota 4

* denotes overtime periods

Results

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All times are local.

Quarterfinals

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(1) St. Cloud State vs. (8) Miami

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March 9 St. Cloud State 5 – 2 Miami Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Recap  
(Winiecki, Benson) Jack Ahcan - 06:02 First period 15:28 - Kiefer Sherwood (Hutton, Belpedio)
(Jackson, Brodzinski) Jimmy Schuldt - PP - 06:11
(unassisted) Blake Lizotte - GW - 15:14
Second period No scoring
(Jackson, Borgen) Easton Brodzinski - PP - 11:39
(Fitzgerald, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - EN - 18:50
Third period 04:26 - Gordie Green (Sherwood, Hutton)
( 24 saves / 26 shots ) Dávid Hrenák Goalie stats Ryan Larkin ( 24 saves / 28 shots )
March 10 St. Cloud State 2 – 3 OT Miami Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 01:54 - Josh Melnick (Mahalak, Sherwood)
17:33 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Mahalak)
(Eyssimont, Jackson) Ryan Poehling - PP - 07:20 Second period No scoring
(Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Blake Winiecki - PP - 02:43 Third period No scoring
No scoring First overtime period 07:10 - GW - Grant Hutton (Belpedio, Knies)
( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák Goalie stats Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots )
March 11 St. Cloud State 4 – 3 OT Miami Herb Brooks National Hockey Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 09:31 - Grant Hutton (Sherwood, Green)
16:22 - PP - Casey Gilling (Dornbrock, Mahalak)
(Jackson, Eyssimont) Jimmy Schuldt - 01:26
(Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - 18:13
Second period 01:31 - Karch Bachman (LaValle)
(J. Lizotte, Borgen) Judd Peterson - PP - 14:08 Third period No scoring
(Newell, Ahcan) Mikey Eyssimont - GW - 08:14 First overtime period No scoring
( 17 saves / 20 shots ) Dávid Hrenák Goalie stats Ryan Larkin ( 30 saves / 32 shots )
St. Cloud State won series 2–1


(2) Denver vs. (7) Colorado College

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March 9 Denver 0 – 2 Colorado College Magness Arena Recap  
No Scoring First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 05:07 - GW PP - Westin Michaud (Blumenschein, Halloran)
09:27 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, McCaskill)
( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Tanner Jaillet Goalie stats Alex Leclerc ( 37 saves / 37 shots )
March 10 Denver 3 – 2 Colorado College Magness Arena Recap  
No Scoring First period 16:41 - SH - Trey Bradley (unassisted)
(Mitchell, Lukosevicius) Henrik Borgström - PP - 02:06 Second period 17:40 - Kristian Blumenschein (Bradley, Bergh)
(Lukosevicius, Borgström) Troy Terry - 02:17
(Mitchell, Hillman) Troy Terry - GW - 14:29
Third period No scoring
( 25 saves / 27 shots ) Tanner Jaillet Goalie stats Alex Leclerc ( 46 saves / 49 shots )
March 11 Denver 6 – 1 Colorado College Magness Arena Recap  
(Staub, Hillman) Logan O'Connor - 05:11
(Terry) Tariq Hammond - GW - 15:57
First period No scoring
(Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 06:33
(Terry) Henrik Borgström - 14:40
(Lukosevicius, Hammond) Liam Finlay - 14:58
Second period No scoring
(Terry, Borgström) Jarid Lukosevicius - 08:51 Third period 07:35 - Mason Bergh (Bradley, Williams)
( 18 saves / 18 shots ) Tanner Jaillet / ( 9 saves / 10 shots ) Devin Cooley Goalie stats Alex Leclerc ( 25 saves / 29 shots ) / Alec Calvaruso ( 9 saves / 11 shots )
Denver won series 2–1


(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (6) Western Michigan

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March 9 Minnesota–Duluth 5 – 0 Western Michigan AMSOIL Arena Recap  
(Swaney, Samberg) Avery Peterson - GW PP - 04:55
(Anderson, Perunovich) Riley Tufte - PP - 14:08
First period No scoring
(Anderson, Krieger) Scott Perunovich - 04:55
(Perunovich, Anderson) Peter Krieger - PP - 14:08
Second period No scoring
(Exell, Wolff) Blake Young - 17:54 Third period No scoring
( 26 saves / 26 shots ) Hunter Shepard Goalie stats Austin Cain ( 8 saves / 12 shots ) / Ben Blacker ( 11 saves / 12 shots )
March 10 Minnesota–Duluth 2 – 0 Western Michigan AMSOIL Arena Recap  
(Exell, Miller) Louie Roehl - GW - 02:24 First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
(unassisted) Jared Thomas - EN - 00:52 Third period No scoring
( 19 saves / 19 shots ) Hunter Shepard Goalie stats Ben Blacker ( 23 saves / 24 shots )
Minnesota–Duluth won series 2–0


(4) North Dakota vs. (5) Omaha

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March 9 North Dakota 4 – 0 Omaha Ralph Engelstad Arena Recap  
(Poganski, Poolman) Shane Gersich - GW - 13:52 First period No scoring
(Gardner, Poolman) Christian Wolanin - PP - 01:00
(Shaw) Nick Jones - 12:39
(unassisted) Joel Janatuinen - 16:39
Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period No scoring
( 25 saves / 25 shots ) Cam Johnson Goalie stats Evan Weninger ( 30 saves / 34 shots )
March 10 North Dakota 4 – 3 OT Omaha Ralph Engelstad Arena Recap  
(Smith, Simonson) Matt Kiersted - 10:13
(Olson, Wolanin) Dixon Bowen - 14:05
First period 15:28 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Buchta, Spinner)
No scoring Second period 05:25 - Teemu Pulkkinen (Vesel, Jones)
(Poolman, Shaw) Nick Jones - 10:14 Third period 05:41 - Jake Randolph (Alferd, Pope)
(Kawaguchi, Poolman) Nick Jones - GW - 00:53 First overtime period No scoring
( 18 saves / 21 shots ) Cam Johnson Goalie stats Evan Weninger ( 29 saves / 33 shots )
North Dakota won series 2–0


Semifinals

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(1) St. Cloud State vs. (4) North Dakota

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March 16 St. Cloud State 3 – 2 OT North Dakota Xcel Energy Center Recap  
(Ahcan, B. Lizotte) Patrick Newell - 05:54 First period No scoring
(unassisted) Easton Brodzinski - 05:53 Second period 04:39 - Nick Jones (Olson, Poolman)
No scoring Third period 10:10 - PP - Jordan Kawaguchi (Olson, Jones)
(unassisted) Nick Poehling - GW - 01:47 First overtime period No scoring
( 21 saves / 23 shots ) Dávid Hrenák Goalie stats Cam Johnson ( 31 saves / 34 shots )


(2) Denver vs. (3) Minnesota–Duluth

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March 16 Denver 3 – 1 Minnesota–Duluth Xcel Energy Center Recap  
(Mitchell, Terry) Henrik Borgström - 08:55 First period No scoring
(O'Connor, Davies) Colin Staub - GW - 04:22 Second period 01:37 - Scott Perunovich (Anderson, Thomas)
(O'Connor) Adam Plant - PP EN - 19:11 Third period No scoring
( 24 saves / 25 shots ) Tanner Jaillet Goalie stats Hunter Shepard ( 16 saves / 18 shots )


Third place

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(3) Minnesota–Duluth vs. (4) North Dakota

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March 17 Minnesota–Duluth 1 – 4 North Dakota Xcel Energy Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 07:22 - Austin Poganski (Jones)
No scoring Second period 07:22 - GW - Joel Janatuinen (Poolman)
(Samberg, Exell) Mikey Anderson - SH - 16:37 Third period 15:51 - PP - Shane Gersich (Hoff, Poganski)
19:04 - PP - Ludvig Hoff (Wolanin, Kawaguchi)
( 27 saves / 31 shots ) Hunter Shepard Goalie stats Cam Johnson ( 27 saves / 28 shots )


Championship

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(1) St. Cloud State vs. (2) Denver

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March 17 St. Cloud State 1 – 4 Denver Xcel Energy Center Recap  
No Scoring First period 04:24 - Kohen Olischefski (Barrow, Mitchell)
19:54 - GW - Jake Durflinger (O'Connor)
No scoring Second period 02:06 - Ryan Barrow (Finlay, Olischefski)
(Fitzgerald) Ryan Poehling - 15:54 Third period 17:06 - Dylan Gambrell (unassisted)
( 10 saves / 13 shots ) Dávid Hrenák / ( 13 saves / 14 shots ) Jeff Smith Goalie stats Tanner Jaillet ( 19 saves / 23 shots )


Tournament awards

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* Most Valuable Player(s)

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References

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  1. ^ "Format". Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  2. ^ "Denver Wins 2018 Frozen Faceoff". NCHC. March 17, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.